This invention relates to surgical inserters for aiding in installing orthopedic prostheses, and more specifically, to easily sterilizable inserters for installing acetabular implants in the acetabular socket.
A double mobility prosthetic cup is a type of acetabular implant that is designed to increase a patient's range of mobility. Unlike other types of actabular implants, double mobility prosthetic cups do not have an opening through the cup portion which allows for easy manipulation during implantation. For example, a rod is typically threaded through the cup opening. This rod is used like a handle with which to control and guide the implant during implantation. Double mobility implants, on the other hand, do not have such an opening and therefore create a challenge in controlling them during implantation. The present invention solves this problem and provides an effective novel means of manipulating the double mobility implant during implantation.
Complicated mechanical devices have crevices and recesses that are difficult, if not almost impossible to clean with ease. Devices that are not properly cleaned and sterilized run the risk of disease transfer from patient to patient following the emergence of certain “prions” that are not killed by normal hospital sterilization and need to be physically removed by washing and rinsing.
Further, in surgical procedures in which access to the treatment site is limited, it is difficult to use current solutions without subjecting the patient to repeated abrasion and tissue trauma when inserting and extracting surgical instruments.
Still further, once the appropriate position of the implant is selected, it is often difficult to ensure that the position does not change upon insertion of the assembly through the incision.
What is needed therefore is a double mobility implant inserter that is easily adjustable, disassemblable, and cleanable. Further, what is needed is an inserter that enables the surgeon to better maneuver, position and install the double mobility implant in a particular angular orientation.